Fantasy football managers tend to focus on the exciting breakout candidates or the deep sleepers who could take their game to another level and lead teams to a championship. However, it’s just as important to avoid the players who could implode during the season and cause you headaches every week when setting your lineup.
To help you steer clear of any disappointing fantasy picks, here is the 2025 All-Bust Team, filled with players I’m passing on at their current ADPs.
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Quarterback
QB Jared Goff, Lions
Goff is going to have a tough time replicating his 2024 campaign when he finished as the QB8 in fantasy points per game, which was an outlier compared to previous five seasons when he wasn’t higher than QB15.
His 37 touchdown passes were by far the most he’s thrown during his nine years in the NFL and led to a 6.9% TD rate — well above his career rate of 4.8%. And we know how important big yardage and TD totals are for pocket passers like Goff, who don’t get a fantasy bump from rushing production.
The Lions offense will also be dealing with the departure of star offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, as well as a pair of above-average starters on the interior of the line in Frank Ragnow and Kevin Zeitler.
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To make matters worse, Goff is going from the ninth-easiest fantasy schedule in 2024 to the fifth-hardest string of opponents this year, including more outdoor contests where his numbers have dipped in the past.
With so many quality fantasy QBs worth targeting this year, it’s difficult to justify Goff’s ADP as QB11.
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Running Backs
RB1 D’Andre Swift, Bears
While Goff and the Lions lost Ben Johnson, the Bears offense is on the upswing with him in charge. The team also invested heavily in the pass-catching corps, using early picks on Colston Loveland and Luther Burden III, while solving the problems on the interior of their line with the additions of Joe Thuney, Drew Dalman and Jonah Jackson.
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So it was surprising when they didn’t upgrade the backfield. It almost feels like Swift is returning as the lead back by default after the team missed out by a pick or two on rookie runners in the early rounds.
Though he did finish with over 1,300 scrimmage yards last season, which made him a low-end RB2 in fppg, this coaching staff could elect to deploy more of a committee backfield like they used in Detroit. And we’ve already seen a Johnson-led offense move on from Swift. Could it unfold again this year on a new club? It’s definitely possible.
Swift also has a very difficult early-season schedule with tough divisional games versus the Vikings and Lions, who were bottom five in rushing yards and fantasy points allowed to running backs in 2024. If he struggles in those contests, we could see seventh-rounder Kyle Monangai or third-year back Roschon Johnson carve out a bigger role. The Bears might even be a landing spot for a veteran back via trade or after roster cuts. The schedule overall doesn’t get much better either, with the Bears RBs facing the ninth-hardest slate.
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If you were going to guess which starting back could lose their job during the season, Swift would be on that list, so draft him at your own risk.
RB2 Joe Mixon, Texans
Mixon continues to go off the board around RB26 in the middle rounds, but fantasy managers need to move him much further down than that.
The 29-year-old remains on the non-football injury list and the team has been very reluctant to provide any updates on his foot issue, including a projected timetable for his return.
His injury has been referred to as a “complicated medical issue” that could keep him out of Week 1 and perhaps even longer.
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Injury analyst Jeff Mueller recently cited multiple sources who have provided him with information that caused him to take Mixon off his draft board entirely.
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Even if Mixon gets back in the lineup eventually, he won’t have the same clear path to uncontested touches. The Texans have brought in Nick Chubb and Woody Marks, who could factor in around the goal line and in the passing game, respectively.
Regardless of how far Mixon’s ADP falls over the next couple weeks, I won’t be drafting him.
Wide Receivers
WR1 Tyreek Hill, Dolphins
Hill’s ADP has fallen to the third round of fantasy drafts, but he’s still being selected as a top-12 player at his position.
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My question is, why?
The lightning-quick playmaker showed signs of decline in 2024 and his average yards per reception dropped significantly from 15.1 the season prior to 11.8 last year. He finished as the WR30 in fppg and while some of that can be attributed to Tua Tagovailoa missing time, it’s not all Tua’s fault.
In the age curve study done by Fantasy Points’ Ryan Heath, he identified Year 10 as the season when receivers have their first significant statistical dip, falling to 77.2% of their career baseline production.
It doesn’t help that Hill is dealing with an oblique injury that could keep him sidelined until Week 1.
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When you couple that with Hill’s constant off-field antics and strange comments to the media, often criticizing teammates or coaches, you start to wonder how much longer he has in a Dolphins’ uniform.
Given the volatility of Hill, Tua’s durability concerns, the state of the offensive line and the worries about the defense, the potential for Miami to self-destruct is real. And if that happens, we have no idea what it will mean for Hill.
WR2 DJ Moore, Bears
It seems crazy to veer away from a receiver who has posted at least 95 receptions in each of the past two seasons with the Bears … and yet, here we are.
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Part of the concern begins with Moore’s declining metrics from 2024, where he posted career lows in yards per route run (1.44) and yards per touch (9.3), while failing to top 1,000 yards on his 98 receptions.
Then there’s the matter of his increased target competition, which already featured promising sophomore Rome Odunze and now includes a pair of highly-drafted rookies in tight end Colston Loveland and wideout Luther Burden III.
Beat writers have even suggested Odunze could overtake Moore as Caleb Williams’ top target this season.
The 28-year-old veteran is only one year removed from being the WR10 in fppg, but his efficiency is heading in the wrong direction and it doesn’t appear that he’ll get enough volume to overcome that decline.
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Tight End
Travis Kelce, Chiefs
It’s been a great ride starting Kelce in your tight end spot over the years and enjoying a massive advantage on the competition.
Unfortunately, that ride is over. It’s not that Travis Kelce won’t still be productive — he did manage 823 yards last season, fifth-most at his position, but it was arguably his worst statistical performance in over a decade. His 8.5 yards per reception was a career low and over two yards under his previous lowest mark — which was set the year before.
With his 36th birthday approaching in October, Kelce will also take the field with one of the most complete receiving corps the Chiefs have had during his time in Kansas City. Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown and Jalen Royals form a strong corps that will inevitably draw targets away from the former de facto No. 1 option, Kelce.
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As long as you understand that Kelce is more of a mid- to low-end TE1 for fantasy this year, you’ll be fine. But if you’re still looking for that big edge at tight end, I suggest you draft one of the current elite options in Brock Bowers, Trey McBride or George Kittle.
FLEX
WR Zay Flowers, Ravens
Flowers is the kind of fantasy asset that looks better on paper than he does in your lineup.
The 24-year-old notched his first 1,000-yard campaign in 2024 and sadly, that only resulted in six top-24 weekly finishes. The rest of the time, he was held outside the top-30 fantasy receivers.
One of the things holding him back is a lack of touchdown scoring, which can fluctuate from season to season. However, I wouldn’t project a big uptick in that category with Mark Andrews healthy and DeAndre Hopkins joining the mix.
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The fifth to seventh rounds of this year’s drafts are filled with high-upside wideouts capable of being difference-makers for your roster and potentially cracking the top-20 receivers.
Flowers just doesn’t have that same appeal.
This news was originally published on this post .
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